New Death Date Is Feb. 9 for Double Killer Siripongs

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Monday set a new execution date for a convicted double murderer who was temporarily spared last month, just hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection.

After a brief hearing, Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald ordered a Feb. 9 execution date for Jaturun “Jay” Siripongs, 43, a onetime Buddhist monk convicted of killing a Garden Grove store owner and clerk during a 1981 robbery.

Siripongs’ attorney, Linda Schilling, said the fight to save his life is not over. She plans to petition Gov.-elect Gray Davis to grant Siripongs a second clemency hearing, marking an early political test for the incoming governor. During the gubernatorial campaign, Davis said he supports capital punishment.

“I don’t know if I feel better or worse,” Schilling said after the hearing. “I don’t know much about Mr. Davis’ position on clemency.”

The Siripongs case has been marked by several unusual twists. Many prominent figures in the Thai community both in Southern California and Thailand have come to the defense of the Thai citizen, asking that his death sentence be lifted.

Surachai Wattanaporn, a Brea resident and fellow Thai whose wife was murdered by Siripongs, has also asked that Siripongs’ life be spared. Wattanaporn said his religious beliefs prevent him from advocating death for another human being.

Additionally, two jurors who recommended the death penalty for Siripongs have since sent letters to the governor saying the sentence should now be lifted, as did a death row guard and a former warden from San Quentin Prison who called Siripongs a “model prisoner.”

But prosecutors, police and others say Siripongs is a callous murderer who deserves to die for his crimes.

Siripongs’ first clemency request was rejected by Gov. Pete Wilson. In the hours leading up to the scheduled Nov. 17 execution at San Quentin, Schilling filed an appeal arguing that Wilson issued misleading instructions on what information he would consider during the clemency hearing.

Based on that appeal, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney halted the execution and ordered a new hearing to consider the argument.

After that hearing, earlier this month, Chesney refused to extend the stay of execution, saying that the court was in no position to second-guess the governor’s handling of the clemency process. Her ruling cleared the way for prosecutors on Monday to seek a new execution date.

A condemned inmate is allowed to request a clemency hearing any time before the scheduled execution.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Laura Halgren said prosecutors have already agreed to give Schilling adequate time to petition Davis for clemency.

Few laws govern the procedures of a clemency hearing, and the process is left almost entirely to the discretion of the governor. Schilling said she will file her clemency request shortly after Davis takes office in early January.